MANSEHRA: Chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rehman has asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to step down before the JUI-F brings the ­federal capital to a standstill.

“We will launch the second phase of our agitation after Ramazan and will go to Islamabad in the first week of September, but I ask the ‘incapable prime minister’ to step down to avoid people’s wrath,” said the JUI-I chief while speaking at a ‘million march’ organised by his party on Chinar Road here on Sunday.

Maulana Fazl, who also denounced the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for giving more time to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government, asked the establishment to stop backing the ‘fake prime minister’.

“Media says the opposition is not united to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan and to some extent it is true, but I want to make it clear that I am uniting people against the government,” he said.

JUI-F chief says second phase of agitation to be launched after Ramazan

The JUI-F chief announced the second phase of his agitation to oust the prime minister from his office amid loud cheers from the crowd.

“We will hold a series of ‘million marches’ after Eidul Fitr and such ‘referendum of Mansehra’ against the government would be held in Quetta on July 15, in Peshawar on July 21 and dates for staging ‘million marches’ in Punjab will be announced later,” said Maulana Fazl.

He said that none of the governments since the inception of Pakistan was serious to decide who would rule the country.

“Neither the institutions nor industrialists, landlords and bureaucracy are sincere to decide who would rule the country for the past seven decades which caused an irreparable loss to the nation,” said Maulana Fazl.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan was electioneering for Narendra Modi.

“Our prime minister says if Narendra Modi’s party wins the elections in India the latter will address the Kashmir issue, just to please Zionists,” said Maulana Fazl.

He warned the federal government that the JUI-F would never allow anybody to recognise Israel, which he said would be betrayal with the Palestinians.

“Prime minister should plead the case of Kashmiris at international forums, instead of recognising Israel and we will never allow him to use our soil for this dirty act,” the Maulana said.

He said there was huge corruption in the billion-tree tsunami project of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the prime minister was the biggest ‘liar and corrupt’ who had been deceiving the nation in the name of a crackdown on his political rivals.

“The country has been facing worst-ever inflation in its history and that is why people expect us to lock down the federal capital to get rid of such a ­fascist ­government,” he said.

The JUI-F chief said that the presidential system was a replica of dictatorship and the people would never accept it at any cost.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2019